Wildfires quickly spread in southwest Florida ordering evacuations

3,000 acres have already burned

Univision,

May 14, 2020 – 10:06 AM EDT

In the sunshine state, Florida is battling another crisis. Wildfires.

3,000 acres have burned in Collier County so far.

Firefighters are working around the clock to fight the out of control fires which shut down a 20-mile stretch of Alligator Alley. The fired burned 6 square miles of both sides of Interstate 75. Evacuations of the area were ordered for people to quickly escape. Residents of about 30 homes were affected.

An arrest has been made with the connection of the fire in the panhandle that destroyed 59 homes.

"We are noticing extreme fire behavior and and an excessively high flame height," Melinda Avni, a mitigation specialist for the Florida Forestry Service, told the Naples Daily News. "We are encouraging extreme caution and for folks to stay away from the area, if at all possible."